Farmers look to Canberra for help

The battle between farmers on NSW’s ultra-fertile Liverpool Plains and government-endorsed coalminer BHP continues to grow, moving closer to becoming a matter for federal scrutiny.

The ABC’s 4Corners has covered the dispute and will air that coverage in mid-July. Most interesting will be their take on state MP Ian McDonald, the dismissive Minister for Agriculture and enthusiastic Minister for Natural Resources.

Tim Duddy is one of the leading voices in the Caroona Coal Action Group (CCAG). His farm has been the staging ground for community blockades to prevent further invasive coal exploration by BHP.

Duddy says farmers have not been given fair treatment under current processes in state law and regulation.

“BHP has to pay the NSW Government $100m on a mining approval and Shenhua, the Chinese company [exploring an adjacent lot] will pay $300m for the same privilege,” he said. “The minister [McDonald] having vested interests in both portfolios certainly does not help in protecting prime agricultural land.”

Concerned about damage to the area’s water supply and soil quality, the farmers took their attempts to legally block BHP to the state’s Mining Warden. But the Warden has now returned a finding that calls for the farmers to step aside and let BHP continue their invasive exploration on private lands.

“We have found the process of arbitration and the mining warden to be a
totally one-sided process where the environment is clearly the loser,” said Duddy.
“The NSW Chief Mining Warden stated in his judgment to facilitate access
for the purpose of exploration that ‘there may be damage, there may not be
damage – the only two things in life that are sure is death and taxes’.”

Having exhausted their options in NSW, CCAG is fighting for the Rudd Government to step in. And Ian McDonald’s opinion may soon be irrelevant, with a motion to prevent further diversions from floodplains soon to be tabled in the Federal Senate and discussions that will involve the Murray-Darling Catchment Authority.

“To contemplate a mine at the head of the Murray Darling river system and possibly compromise and add toxins to a river system that runs from Gunnedah to Adelaide would certainly give the Commonwealth solid grounds for intervention,” Duddy said.

Seeking $8 million for a whole of catchment study – needed to determine the impacts of open cut mining and cracked aquifers – the farmers already have a commitment of $1.5 million from Senator Penny Wong. This funding was intended to be matched by state governments which have yet to reach into their pockets.

Duddy said the headwaters of the Murray-Darling provide over 120 billion litres downstream annually. For this reason alone, he and CCAG expect that no progress can be made without a scientific understanding of the basin which, surprisingly at this late stage, is still lacking.

– BY ROGER HANNEY